Obama, Brazilian president to meet at White House

[Judi Lynn]

Obama, Brazilian president to meet at White House

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE / Associated Press Writer

Published: March 14th, 2009 12:22 AM
Last Modified: March 14th, 2009 12:22 AM

WASHINGTON - Troubled world economies, energy and the environment will be among the topics for discussion when President Barack Obama sits down with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

rade, relations with Latin America and the case of a New Jersey man trying to bring his 8-year-old son back from Brazil also may come up when Obama and Silva meet Saturday at the White House.

The leaders also will compare notes on two international forums on their schedules next month, a gathering of the Group of 20 nations and the Summit of the Americas, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Brazil has become a major U.S. trading partner, and its cautious economic policies have helped it weather the global economic crisis better than almost all other major economies. South America's largest country, Brazil also has huge new sources of offshore oil and abundant ethanol, which could give it a key role in helping the U.S. wean itself off Venezuelan crude and shift to cleaner sources of energy.

Silva, who runs the world's fifth-most-populous nation and ninth-largest economy, has close ties with leaders across the political spectrum. He's been asked to lobby Obama for free trade on behalf of conservatives in Colombia and for dropping the U.S. embargo against communist Cuba.

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